N TAYLOR stated (Letters, Friday, January 14) that "the taxpayers have poured £10m a day into disaster relief since Boxing Day".

In his last Budget speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a budget for "Overseas Development", in other words charity, of £6.5bn for 2005.

This works out at more than £17.8m for every single one of the 365 days of this year. Clearly a rich country like the UK has an obligation to aid the Third World, but I wonder how many people on hospital waiting lists, or just struggling to ends meet, realise just how much of their income tax is given away overseas?

This excludes, of course, our ever-increasing contribution to the central funds of the European Union.

GARY WEBB,

Worcester.